Review: Charger Soshine SC-S7 UK

No, the charger must be marked 3.0 or 3.2 volt.

Thanks HKJ for your very fast response! :bigsmile: Two quick questions (sorry for hijacking the thread). Which charger would you look at if you are charging CR2? Also I have the TR-001 and planning to charge those CR2 using magnet spacers in TR-001 at the 3.0V option, would you recommend it?

That depends on the chemistry of the cell, I believe yours are LiFePO4 and I do not know a good charger for that.

For LiCoO2 I would look for a CottonPickers charger or modify a TP4056 module.

I do not know much about the TR-001 (I will probably know more in a couple of weeks).

My guess is that it will work fine, but the charge current is probably to high and might increase the wear on the cell.

Thanks very much for your professional advice once again. Probably would try it.

By the way just a compliment. I really enjoyed your reviews (though I don’t know much how to really interpret the diagrams) of chargers, batteries and also flashlights. Amazed by your extensive collection of batteries, and small flashlights :slight_smile:

thanks HKJ, the Soshine SC-S7 is good charger,

Can it do 26650 and 18650?

If you read the review that starts this thread, there is a table with the answers:

the SC-S7 can’t charge the 26650, the i4 and i2 can charge 26650 and 18650.

So can the Xtar SP2

Just received this charger from Fast tech and the included wall charger states the output to be 12.0V - 0.5A. Should the output not be 1A? Soshine packaged Huawei switching power adapter model HF-120050U3.

Why?

If it had uses a linear regulator it would get very hot.

When using 12 volt input, it is most common to use a buck converter to reduce voltage and this will increase current.

Thanks for that helpful explanation. Even when I think I am gaining an understanding of a certain aspect, I find there is lots more to learn.

The Soshine SC-F3 also has this faint clicking. It can also be heard whilst charging.

Good review and discussion. I ordered one on AliExpress.
I plan to use USB power to charge my Li Co non-IMR 14500s, the peak power is low enough and I don’t think starting at 0.8A average will hurt them.
It appears to me to be very well designed and maybe better than the Xtar WP2 II, if the quality is as good. The pulsing after charge is complete to maintain voltage seems a good feature, in case one wants to leave a cell in the charger to have it ready at maximum charge. The reduced charge rate as the voltage rises with USB appears to be to avoid overloading the USB port. The only thing I miss is an option to charge to 3.9 or 4.1 V, which may extend batter life. (At least some hybrid cars don’t fully charge or fully discharge their batteries, in order to extend battery life.) As it is I can only do this by watching the voltage LCD display and taking it out.

Thanks! Ordered one of these, as I was looking for a USB powered single channel NiMH AA charger for a bit. Seemed to fit the bill. Have also wanted to get a rough capacity measure on my 18650 laptop pulls, so seems to be a win win. :slight_smile:

My new SC-S7 seems to consistently only charge Li-Ions to 4.16v. The voltage on the display (though only shown to a tenth of a volt) always seems to read slightly high. Other than that is seems to be working out well for me. You do have to be careful not to knock the battery out which will cause you to lose your "mAh charged" data (I know from experience).

-Garry

I’ve been putting the cell in, slide the neg term up to it, take the cell out and then carefully push it one click shorter - battery fits nice and snug… YMMV :slight_smile:

Hmm, I should try that - thanks!

-Garry

I got one of these today as a part of a going away gift for family. I just tested it using brand new (never used) panasonic ncr18650B, and I can confirm the 4.14v on USB (4.2v on the machine, 4.14 on DMM after 40 mins off the machne). Also noticed the clicking noise when empty but you need to put your ear to it.

Mine was from BG and came with a short and I mean short USB cable, and a power socket adapter to Australian wall socket. No idea why, they did not supply a PSU at all to use it with.

I think I have an old router PSU that is 12v, not sure on amps.

I will also try the tip on the slider. I cant say how many mAh the battery took because I picked up the unit (gently mind you), and it restarted. Still, it knew what was in it, and charged accordingly. thanks for that

Edit: I only just noticed, mine has some differences from the one HJK posted. The LCD backlight is green, not orange. Voltage is set beside the battery animation, and the mAh readout has its own dedicated space where v used to be on the orange one, time elapsed is now where the mAh/Time elapsed/full space was. Time and Full still swap when its finished though. The timer counts seconds for the first 60 seconds, then minutes. Its weird, the minute symbol (mapping) a clock symbol is there, but it looks like its for temp. I panicked when I saw it climb over 1:00. I need glasses, I couldnt see the :.

I've only used the 12v power adaptor to power my charger and still only get 4.16v when it says "Full".

-Garry